Can I use zyBooks as a supplement?

You can, but it's unlikely to meet your objectives. It’s like dipping a toe in a pool instead of jumping in. To experience a zyBook, one really has to take the plunge.

Plus, practically-speaking, students don’t like multiple sources of the same information.

Some instructors initially survey students and find 50% want a hardcopy textbook. But that might say more about a status quo bias than the merits of the traditional textbook. Also, note that students actually don’t yet know what a zyBook is — we agree a hardcopy has benefits over ebooks, but a zyBook is not an ebook. And note that some students are now used to getting book PDFs illegally but free, and they aren’t keen on having to subscribe.

Once students use a zyBook, surveys show nearly 100% prefer it over a textbook once they realize the interactivity is hugely helpful. Here’s a real quote: “My friend needs to learn programming. Can she access a zyBook? I used one for my class last semester. It was just such a perfectly designed online textbook.” We get hundreds of such emails every term.

Finally, we note that one reason textbooks are hard to learn from is they try to be both learning material and a reference, polluting the material with excessive topics. We focus on the learning part, and we let the modern web be the reference (the web is often a better reference than any book).